Star
by morph
Summary: The Doctor takes Rose to where his planet once was. Part of my TARDIS 100 series. TARDIS POV. Little bit 9Rose. One Shot.


AN/ The Doctor shows Rose where his planet used to be. Set sometime during the Eccleston Era. Hidden somewhere in this fic is Christopher Eccleston's birth date. Part of my TARDIS 100 series. TARDIS POV. The BBC owns every last scrap of Doctor Who and the quote comes from a Disney movie. Hope you enjoy it!

"_The second star to the right shines in the night for you to tell you that the dreams you plan really can come true." _- Peter Pan

* * *

It's amazing how a giant ball of gas burning in space can inspire so many. Humans are not the only ones who write stories, songs and poems about the stars. I have lived and travelled among the stars all my life. I know the pathways between them by heart. Not all the stars you see in the night sky are suns; some of them are planets or even moons caught in the orbit of those suns and planets. My Doctor and I have visited most of them at least once. The nature of time travel means that the stars are always changing. Stars go supernova, planets disappear. You can visit them one day, then travel forward a million years and they will be gone. 

Some stars disappear altogether. They vanish from space and time. You can't go back and visit them except in your memories.

The Doctor had taken Rose to a special room. I knew that he wanted to show her the stars, even though I was currently gliding through deep space. There were no near-by planets or moons to land on. There should have been, but there weren't any more. I was very familiar with this corner of space, having travelled here many times before in the past. This room was often visited by the Doctor in private, but this was the first time Rose had ever seen it.

He had gotten her to close her eyes. She did, trusting him completely. He took her hand and led her down my halls. She asked him "Where are we going?"

He only grinned and told her "It's a surprise. Just a little further."

He led her into a large room. It was dark and quiet, with only the faint sound of my engines in the background. He closed the door and told her to "stay there for a second." He left her in the darkness. She wasn't afraid, but I sent her a reassuring message regardless. I wouldn't let her come to harm here.

The Doctor flipped a switch and I opened a large window in my ceiling. Starlight filtered in through the specially made exo-glass that protected them from the cold vacuum of space. The Doctor, with a small smile, moved back to Rose's side and told her to open her eyes.

She did, and gasped at the amazing view.

Exactly one billion, sixteen million, twenty-one thousand nine hundred sixty four stars twinkled down at them. They were of all sizes and ages, some were brighter than others. Some had already died, their light still coming through the realms of time.

"Wow," Rose breathed.

"Yeah…isn't it beautiful?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah."

I knew the Doctor was thinking about those stars, running through their names in his head, remembering what would happen to each one, predicting when some would go supernova and where the new ones would form. He was sadly remembering the planets and stars that used to be here. He was also thinking about Rose, and how glad he was to show this to her.

Rose's mind was filled with wonder. She had never seen so many stars in her life. She wondered what was out among them. It never crossed her mind why he would pick this particular spot to show her the stars.

The Doctor seemed to pick up on that. He wanted to share that information with her. "You know why I chose this particular place? This particular area of the universe?"

Rose shook her head. "No idea."

"My planet used to be here."

Rose's thoughts of wonder screeched to a halt. She looked at the Doctor. His gaze was still on the stars. "What?" she asked.

"Before it disappeared after the Time War, my planet used to be here."

Rose didn't know what to say. Her mind fumbled for a moment as she looked at him. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor and I sighed.

Rose chanced a question that I knew had been bugging her for a long time. "What was it called?"

The Doctor hesitated in his answer. He hadn't said the name of our home since the war. Finally, he dragged the name up from the depths of his soul. "Gallifery."

Rose smiled faintly. "That's pretty."

"Yeah," the Doctor sighed sadly. "I hated it there, you know." Rose's eyebrows raised in surprise. "The Time Lords were such a stuffy, pompous bunch. Thought they were better than everyone else."

I remembered that very well. As I recall, The Doctor had to steal me so he could go off and explore the universe. I've never minded.

"But not you though," Rose said. "You love adventure too much. You can't keep still. You have to keep on travelling."

"Yup. I was the rebel. Got me into a lot of trouble, too." He smirked.

Rose laughed a little. "That doesn't surprise me." She took his hand in hers. "Thank you for showing me this".

The Doctor looked at her and smiled. "You're welcome." He returned his gaze to the stars. "So, if there was any one star out there you would want to visit, which one would it be?"

Rose thought for a moment and pointed at a random star. "That one."

The Doctor grinned, his blue eyes following her finger. "That one?"

"No…the one to the right of it."

The Doctor squeezed her hand. "Ok. We'll go there."


End file.
